Bag seal



Dec. 2 0, 1938. H. L. c. WENK. JR

BAG SEAL Filed Aug. 12, 1938 INVENTOR. f, ('75:,

19222911 6.772 22 BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES BAG SEAL Henry L. C. Wenk Application August 12,

5 Claims.

l his invention relates to improvements in bag seals of the type provided with a deformable lead seal body to engage and secure a tie cord arranged to encircle the gathered neck of a bag so as to close the mouth of the same against unauthorized access to the bag content.

Bag seals of the kind to which this invention has reference are extensively used by banks, post offices, express companies and others to inviolably enclose money, valuables and the like.

In the use of such bag seals, once a seal is operatively applied to a bag it cannot be removed therefrom except by severing the tie cord thereof. In the operation of cutting the tie cord which, as operatively encircling the neck of the bag, closely hugs the bag material, there is always risk that the bag material will be gashed, thus destroying the future usefulness of the bag. This is objectionable since, in practice, the bags are otherwise intended to be used over and over again.

It is an object of this invention to provide, in combination with a bag seal of the kind mentioned, novel means which will support the tie cord in such manner as to efficiently back the same against a cutting operation, while at the same time so localizing and guiding the cutting action as to prevent any contact of the cutting knife with the material of the bag, thus eliminating all risk of gashing the bag and destroying its future usefulness; furthermore, the novel means serving such functions, is designed additionally to both retain the bights of the tie cord, which operatively encircle the bag neck, under strong restrictive tension, whereby the same can not be stretched and loosened or shifted along and off the bag neck, while at the same time providing means to quickly part the bights when the same are severed or partially severed, so that the tie cord quickly and easily releases itself and the seal body from the bag when authorized opening of the bag is desired.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be understood from the following detailed description of the same.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a bag closed and sealed by the operative application thereto of a seal made according to this invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged face view of the novel seal structure per se, and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View, taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view, taken on Jr., Jamaica, N. Y.

1938, Serial No. 224,469

line 44 in Fig. 1, showing the novel seal as applied to a bag neck in closing and sealing relation thereto; Fig. 5 is a similar view, showing the effects of a first cutting operation when removing the seal from the bag; and Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the effects of a final cutting operation when removing the seal from the bag.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above described views to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character Ill indicates a seal body, the same being ordinarily made of lead or like relatively soft and easily deformable metal capable of being crushed and corrugated so as to immovably aflix the same to its associated tie cord. Initially formed in said seal body in are longitudinally extending tie cord receiving passages or openings, usually comprising a pair of inner openings H and a pair of outer openings l2; said openings being suitably relatively spaced apart.

Associated with the inner or bag abutting end of said seal body ill, to extend longitudinally and axially therefrom, is a compression spring sleeve E3 of spirally helical form, and preferably of frustro-conical shape, withits smaller end abutted, and, if desired, affixed, to said inner end of the seal body, so that its larger end, in use, will bear against the gathered and closed neck of a bag to which the seal is applied.

Operatively related to said seal body Ill and the spring sleeve I3 is a tie cord arranged to provide a pair of connected bag encircling loops i4 and E5, the respective inner branches of which are formed by the respective free end portions l6 and ii of said cord, which extendv through the interior of said spring sleeve l3 and thence through the inner openings H of the seal body it to project freely from the outer end of the latter, while the outer branches l8 and E9 of said loops pass exteriorly along said spring sleeve l3 and thence through the outer openings E2 of the seal body Iii, being connected by a bight 28 extending between the outer ends of said openings 12 and across the outer end of said seal body ill.

In operatively applying the seal to a bag 2|, the neck 22 of the latter is gathered and constricted to close the mouth thereof. When the bag is thus closed, the loops M and I5 of the seal tie cord are engaged over the neck 22 so as to encircle the same, with the spring sleeve l3 abutting a side of the gathered and closed neck 22. When the tie cord loops are thus positioned and engaged relative to the bag neck 22, the free ends of the tie-cord are pulled outwardly from the seal body l0, thus constricting the loops i l and i5 tightly about the bag neck, and at the same time compressing the spring sleeve l3 so as to close up the helices thereof and thus place said sleeve under strong tensional contraction (see Figs. 1 and 3). It will be obvious that, in this operation, the branches of the loops l4 and i5 will readily slide through the unrestricted openings H and E2 of the seal body, until the desired contraction of the loops l4 and I5 and compression of the spring sleeve I3 is attained. When the seal is thus operatively related to the bag neck 22, the seal body it? is submitted to the action of a suitable deforming press or stamp, by means of which the metal thereof is suitably compressed and crimped or corrugated to thereby tightly close up the openings II and i2 of the seal body so that the material of the latter grippingly binds the sections of tie-cord extended therethrough against movement relative to the seal body. Preferably the seal body is transversely bent or corrugated as shown in Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6, thereby eifectively preventing any tampering manipulation of the seal body with intent to release its grip upon the tie cord.

Owing to the compression of the spring sleeve l3 intermediate the bag neck 22 and the crimped seal body [0, a strong tensional stress is exerted therebyupon the bag neck encircling loops of the tie-cord, by reason of which stretching, loosening or shifting of said loops relative to the bag neck is impossible of attainment. Furthermore, both stretch and contraction of the tie cord, due to changes of atmospheric or like conditions to which it may be exposed, is efdciently compensated by the tensional stress of the spring sleeve l3 as operatively interposed between the bag neck 22 and seal body ll].

When it is desired that the bag be opened under authorized conditions, the authorized operator may do so by severing the loops l4 and i5 of the tie cord by operatively applying the cutting edge of a knife thereto. Such cutting operations are greatly facilitated by reason of the presence of the contracted spring sleeve l3 which not only provides a backing for the tie cord sections to which the knife is applied, but also serves as an interposed guard between such tie cord sections and the material of the bag, so that accidental cutting or gashing of the bag material'during the tie cord severing operations is efiiciently guarded against. To sever the tie cord, the operator applies his knife against a section of the cord which overlies the exterior side of the spring sleeve 13. Since the helices of said spring sleeve are closed together by the compression of the latter, the sleeve is thus readily adapted to provide both a cord backing and bag material guard intermediate the cord and bag. Assuming the operator cuts first through the branch [9 of loop IS, in such case release and partial tensional expansion of the spring sleeve l3 aids in parting this branch I9 so as to cause the loop l5 to open up- (see Fig. 5). Loop l5 being thus opened, the operator thereupon next cuts through the branch l8 of loop l4, whereupon said spring sleeve l3 being wholly released for reactive expansion, the occurrence of such expansion immediately causes the loops l4 and I5 of the tie cord to fully relax and open out, so that the seal and its tie cord is automatically caused to spring away from the bag neck and drop therefrom, thus releasing the bag neck so that the mouth of the bag may be thereupon opened and the contents of the bag removed.

The shown and described frustro-conical form of the spring sleeve I3 is preferable, because it provides, when closed, tie cord backing portions which incline away from the bag neck 22 and toward the inner end of the seal body l0, whereby any accidental slip of the cutting knife, when operatively manipulated, is deflected toward the seal body 10, by which it may be arrested to the protection of the operator against accidentally cutting himself, as well as away from the bag material to the better safe-guarding thereof against accidental gashing. While for these reasons said frustro-conical shape of spring sleeve I3 is preferable, it will nevertheless be understood that, in its broader aspects, my invention is not to be limited to such specific form and shape of spring sleeve, since many other shapes, including a simple cylindrical shape, may be employed and will attain the essential advantages of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A bag seal comprising, a deformable seal body having tie cord passages, a tie cord extending through said passages so as to form constrictive bag neck encircling loop means extending from the inner end of said seal body, and a tensionally compressible means projecting from the inner end of said seal body to abut an engaged bag neck, portions of said tie cord loop means being disposed to extend exteriorly over said latter means from said seal body.

2. A bag seal comprising, a deformable seal body having tie cord passages, a tie cord extending through said passages so as to form constr'ictive bag neck encircling loop means extending from the inner end of said seal body, and an axially compressible spring sleeve foo-ted upon the inner end of said seal body to abut an engaged bag neck, portions of said tie cord loop means being disposed to extend from said seal body exteriorly over said spring sleeve.

3. A bag seal comprising, a deformable seal body having tie cord passages, a tie cord extending through said passages so as to form constrictive bag neck encircling Ioop means extending from the inner end of said seal body, and an axially compressible spirally helical spring sleeve of frustro-conical form having its smaller end abutting the inner end of said seal body and its larger end adapted to abut an engaged bag neck, portions of said tie cord loop means being disposed to extend from said seal body over the divergent exterior sides of said spring sleeve.

4. A bag seal comprising, a deformable seal body having longitudinally extending outer and inner pairs of tie cord passages, a tie cord having its free end portions extending through said inner seal body passages, said tie cord being arranged to provide constrictive bag neck encircling loop portions having connected outer branches respectively extending through said outer seal body passages, and an axially compressible spring sleeve footed upon the inner end of said seal body to abut an engaged bag neck, said free end branches of the tie cord loops being disposed to extend interiorly through said spring sleeve from said seal body and the outer branches of said tie cord loops being disposed to extend exteriorly over said spring sleeve from said seal body.

5, A bag seal comprising, a deformable seal body having longitudinally extending outer and inner pairs of tie cord passages, a tie cord having its free end portions extending through said inner seal body passages, said tie cord being arranged to provide constrictive bag neck encircling loop portions having connected outer branches respectively extending through said outer seal body passages, and an axially compressible spirally helical spring sleeve of frustro-conical form having its smaller end abutting the inner end of said seal body and its larger end adapted to abut an engaged bag neck, said free end branches of the tie cord loops being disposed to extend interiorly through said spring sleeve from said seal body and the outer branches of said tie cord loops being disposed to extend from said seal body over the divergent exterior sides of said spring sleeve. 5

HENRY L. C. WENK, JR. 

